Meet the New Wonder Woman Heading to the Big Screen

Gal Gadot. Image: Giles Keyte/Universal

Her name might not be in the title, but Wonder Woman is finally heading to the big screen in the Man of Steel follow-up Batman vs. Superman. Gal Gadot, who played former Mossad agent Gisele Harabo in the Fast and the Furious franchise, will star as the Amazon warrior (and her civilian alter-ego Diana Prince) opposite Henry Cavill’s Superman and Ben Affleck’s Batman.

It’s been an ongoing challenge to get Wonder Woman on the big screen. While the other two-thirds of D.C.’s official Trinity, Batman and Superman, have both fronted multiple feature-film series, Wonder Woman has thus far been limited to the small screen.

The character found the most traction in the 1975-1979 live-action series starring Lynda Carter, but disappeared from live action altogether until a 2011 train-wreck of a pilot starring Adrianne Palicki that never ended up airing on NBC. Rumors of a Wonder Woman feature film in development — briefly attached to Joss Whedon — have been flying around for years, but most have been quashed as quickly as they’ve come up. Now, finally, we’ll get a look at the famous DC Comics heroine on the big screen.

“Not only is Gal an amazing actress, but she also has that magical quality that makes her perfect for the role,” Batman vs. Superman director Zack Snyder said in a statement today.

Like the definitive small-screen Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter, Gadot is a former beauty queen, but the Israeli actress brings significant action chops to the roll as well: She’s a motorcycle enthusiast and spent two years as a sports trainer in the Israeli Army.